River Cruise Oct 4/14 "Koln"

We reached Koln, known to us as Cologne, just about in time for dinner on the boat, then an evening walking tour, which was really nice.

This lovely church was just on the approach to Koln/Cologne.

 
 Gondola ride across the Rhine.

What's with this practice of putting locks with names on them in public places?  We saw this in several places, but this bridge in Cologne was covered with them!

The old (right) and the "made to look old" (left).  But a beautiful waterfront!

A fellow on our tour got quite excited about this plane - something to do with one flown in the war, which he never expected to see.  This fellow lives near Edmonton and has 19 helicopters  in his company.  Really nice people!

There was a chocolate museum right beside the boat, but it was closed by the time we arrived, and we left early in the morning.  This must have been a private function/wedding.

 

This building and the cathedral were the only 2 buildings not bombed during the war.  Everything else in the city had been rebuilt. Seeing the destruction from the war all over the part of Europe that we saw made me so sad!

Our walking tour took us through the narrow streets down by the river, where many people were enjoying themselves in bars and restaurants.  I love the cobblestone streets, though those with difficulty walking not  so much.

We were divided into 2 groups for the walking tour, and fortunately we got the guide who hustled us through the streets so we would get to the cathedral before it closed.  I am so glad!  It was an incredibly beautiful building, one of the 2 in Cologne which was not bombed. It reminded me a lot of the cathedral in Strasbourg.

 
 I was so pleased that my camera allowed me to get some decent shots of the cathedral in the dark - without a flash.

The story goes that this cathedral was built to house the remains of the 3 magi that followed the star to Bethlehem, which had been stolen from Italy and brought here.  Makes a nice story, maybe a wee bit hard to believe?  I always thought they went back to the east from whence they came.  But what do I know?

A lovely fountain beside the cathedral.

This is one of the "fake old" buildings.  Looks pretty good to me!

This lady was like a statue - REALLY - until someone put a coin in her pot, then she came to life for a few seconds.  She was very good at it!

The next day, Jeremy gave all the ladies on the tour a nice little bottle of "Eau de Cologne".  :-)                                       And that morning, we were please to find this lovely plant and card in our cabin from the staff,  Of course we couldn't bring it home, but enjoyed it for the week of the cruise.